A Chance to Dream
by TwoBrothersWriting
Summary: Ben Skywalker and a young female Jedi investigate a missing persons case.


_**50 ABY**_

Tomas Dikak helped the elderly man out of his wheelchair and into an adjustable bed. Tomas was a large man, over two meters in height and muscular from years of weightlifting. He had no problem picking up and moving the frail man. Even if he was heavy Tomas could rely on the Force to help lift him. He wasn't Force-strong enough to be a Jedi Knight, but he did find his meager skills useful sometimes.

"Are you comfortable, Mr. Rodats?" he asked the older man.

"As comfortable as I can be when going through these damn withdraws. It doesn't help that my liver and kidneys are failing. I just wish my miserable life was over." The man held out his hand and watched it tremble. "The withdraws are the worse. It feels like my head is going to explode." The man rubbed his hands over his paper-thin skin covered with bruises and bedsores. "And the chills. I get cold then hot like a damn woman going through menopause." The old man turned and gazed at Tomas, his steel blue eyes flashed with pain. "I deserve better than this! I was a decorated Imperial Tie-Fighter pilot. I had a dozen medals for heroism. I was a hero…until the damn rebels won their fight and then I became…a nothing. I guess I should be happy that they didn't hunt me down like an aak dog and press kriff'd up bogus war crimes charges on me like they did to my superiors. We were fighting for the legitimate government! But did I get my pension? Did I get veteran's benefits? No! I got Yeg skit!"

The elderly man began coughing and Tomas noticed bloody spittle staining his white hospital gown. "Please take it easy sir."

"Where is he?" The man looked around. "I want to get this over with."

The larger man pulled a sheet over the old veteran. "He'll be here soon. First I want you to tell me a story."

The gray haired gentleman frowned. "What type of story?"

"I want you to tell me how a good ending to your life would look like."

The man scoffed. "I'll tell you it would have ended with the Rebels being crushed, me staying in the employment of the Empire instead of getting depressed and turning to drugs. Then my wife wouldn't have left me. I loved that woman, but I put her through hell. I can't blame her for cutting me out of her life."

Tomas Dikak gave him a sad smile. "Tell me more."

* * *

Ben Skywalker sat in his office looking over the police reports and surveillance information provided to him by his fellow Jedi Knight, Luna Koss, who was patiently sitting across from his desk waiting for orders. He ran his hand through his short red hair as he tried to wrap his mind around what he was reading.

"Twenty-eight victims in one year? Can that be right?" Ben scrolled through his report on his datapad. "How come we're only hearing about this now?"

Jedi Koss gave him an apologetic look. "It looks like someone in the elderly care home has been doing a cover up. Elderly, terminal and usually transient patients come into the facility and disappear. Most of the time nobody cares. There is no next of kin. Luckily for us, one of the patients had family looking for him. When the home couldn't account for the patient's whereabouts the Coruscanti police started investigating."

Ben looked up from his datapad. Jedi Koss was a little younger than Ben, but at the age of twenty she had worked her way up the ranks quickly and after achieving her knighthood she asked to be trained in the specialty of a Jedi Sentinel. She wanted to work with law enforcement where she thought she could make a difference in this world. Since Ben had spent time working with the Galactic Alliance Guard she was assigned to work with him on this mission. Ben didn't want to admit it, but he welcomed this distraction from his normal Jedi Knight duties, especially when the distraction was a pretty brunette.

He shook the thoughts out of his head as he concentrated on the report in front of him. "Why do the police want Jedi in on this?"

"Holovids gave the impression that a Force user might be involved. The vids show a large middle-aged man talking to the intended victim who then gets into a wheelchair and is wheeled out of the home. The trouble is, even though orderlies and guards talk to the man…none remember the conversation."

"And why didn't the home report their missing patients?"

"I think it was fear of losing their license. Nobody had complained about these missing indigent and homeless patients until last month when a son came looking for his drug addicted father. The latest missing victim is Jannek Rodats an eighty-eight year old human with a severe death stick and spice addiction."

"With roving holodroids everywhere it shouldn't be hard to find out where this man is taking his victims."

"They know what building, but not which apartment. The investigators that did go into the building came out confused and dazed and not wanting to continue the investigation."

"They think it is a Force-user playing mind tricks, so they called in the Jedi."

She nodded her head.

Ben stood while slipping the datapad in his tunic pocket of his Jedi robes. "I guess we go get some bad guys."

* * *

The police had the building under surveillance and a number of heavily armed security droids were in place to assist in the apprehension if needed.

Ben and Luna entered by the front door and proceeded to move down the hallways, stretching out with the Force, attempting to sense their elusive Force-user. After moving through all the floors they focused their attention on one particular apartment. They felt the presence of a Force-sensitive inside, but something else. There was another person who felt different—not human. There was a third person, human, and very happy. Ben looked at Jedi Koss perplexed. Nothing from within the apartment indicated that anything nefarious was going on.

"I don't think this is the right place." Ben brought his hand out to touch the door and closed his eyes concentrating. He tried to reach out to the men inside attempting to touch their minds.

The two humans felt tranquil and at peace. The non-human felt…hungry. That caused him some concern, but he doubted a judge would issue a search warrant because Ben felt the presence of a hungry alien.

He turned to his companion and shook his head. "I don't feel anything out of the ordinary. We don't have a search warrant and no probable cause to get one issued."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "We can knock."

Ben chewed on his bottom lip for a moment in thought. "If they invite me in we don't need a warrant." He gazed at the young woman. "I need you as a back up. Stay out of sight. If I get in give me twenty minutes to talk to them. If you sense panic from me, call back up and carve a hole in that door with your lightsaber. Do you understand?"

The young Jedi nodded. "I'll be around the corner." She walked down the hall and around the bend.

Ben turned back to the door. He squared his shoulders and knocked.

* * *

Tomas first heard the rapping at the door. He considered ignoring it. He felt so good and relaxed. He had been daydreaming of his parents, his sister and baby brother. They were at the beach where the accident happened. In real life they were there having a wonderful time together before an airspeeder fell out of the sky and wiped out his entire family. He still felt guilty that he survived. His father had given him the holo-imager and asked Tomas to take a photo of the family. He was aiming up the shot when suddenly his family was gone in a burst of smoke and fire. He actually had the holo-image taken about one second before the crash. It looked like his father had noticed the out-of-control vehicle a split second before it hit him. Tomas would always remember his father's eyes in that holo. He saw pure fear and dread. It was a look of a man who knew that all he loved would soon be lost.

Tomas liked his daydream better. In it he tells his family to pose in a different location so the sun is to his back. The speeder misses his family and after being a little shook up about the incident they go home and live out their lives. Tomas loved this dream and he was a bit irritated that somebody was trying to pull him away from the fantasy.

Tomas' employer, an ancient looking near-human, frowned as he looked to the door. He looked back to Tomas. "Who is it?"

Tomas reached out with the Force as his lips pulled back in a snarl. "Jedi." The word came out as a curse.

"Kriff." Tomas' boss swore. "Take care of him."

Tomas' eyes widened. "Master Sjuga, I'm not powerful enough to make him go away."

The wrinkled gray-haired man bared his teeth exposing longer than usual canine and incisors. "Let him in. I will take care of him."

Ben was actually surprised when the door opened. He found himself facing a huge human. The man was actually taller than a Wookiee. The giant bent down a little so his head came under the doorframe. "Can I help you?"

At this point Ben realized he wasn't sure what he was going to say, so he just told the truth. "My name is Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker. I am investigating the disappearance of a man named Jannek Rodats and I have reason to believe he is here."

The man frowned. "That would be correct. Mr. Rodats asked to come here."

Ben leaned to the side trying to see around the huge frame of the man. "Can I see him? Since I know he is here I can get a court order."

The large man brought a hand up scratching the back of his head. "No need, you can see him."

Ben stepped into a sparse apartment. There was a dining area and living room. In the back he could see two bedroom doors, both closed. He looked up at the man. "I didn't catch your name."

The large man took a deep breath. "I am Tomas."

"Do you have a last name?"

"Dikak."

"So Tomas, where is Mr Rodats?"

Tomas pointed to one of the bedroom doors. He walked over and opened it. Inside Ben could see two very elderly men. One in a hospital bed, lying comfortable, smiling and feeling very happy in the Force. Ben looked to the other man; the one he knew was not human despite his appearance. "Is he drugged?"

The man grinned, exposing sharp yellow teeth. "Of course not. We do things naturally here." The man held out his hand. "My name is Kek Sjuga."

Ben looked at the hand offered to him. The fingers were unnaturally long and the fingernails were brittle and broken. When Ben did not respond the man gave a slight shrugged and dropped his hand. Ben looked at the man in the bed. "You said you do things naturally. What exactly do you do?"

"Natural pain relief, an end to suffering, a peaceful end to a life in the terminal stages of various illnesses. Mr. Rodats has advanced liver cancer and kidney failure due to decades of drug abuse. He is not long for this world. He contacted us through a friend and he was brought here. He will stay until his body gives out. We then arrange to cremate the body and the ashes scattered in a location decided by the patient. Mr. Rodats is not here against his will."

There was something about this man that made Ben shiver—something very wrong. "I would like to talk to him."

"Certainly." The ancient looking human shook Mr. Rodats' shoulder. The man's calm, happy demeanor disappeared and was replaced with a mask of pain. "What the kriff!" He turned to Kek Sjuga. "Why did you pull me away? I want to go back!" He turned and glared at Ben. "What the kriff is a Jedi scumbag doing here?"

Sjuga put a hand on the man's shoulder trying to calm him. "He wants to make sure you are here on your own free will. Somebody must have missed you."

"The only person who could possibly miss me is that lazy no good son of mine. He probably wants to make sure he knows where my will is…not that it will do him any good. I smoked and snorted through my savings years ago." He turned to Ben and gave him an angry look. "Get the kriff out of here. I want to be here, so kriff off you scum sucking sleemo so he can get back to business."

Ben looked to the three men in confusion not knowing what to make of it. "I don't understand?"

Jannek Rodats sat up in bed and grimaced. "What the kriff is there to understand? I get an end of pain and he gets what little life I have in exchange."

Ben's eyes went wide when he finally understood. He turned to Sjuga. "You're a mind-witch?"

The man gave Ben an apologetic look. "I don't like the term witch. I am a facilitator. We are exchanging things of value. I need life force energy to live. He needs an end to pain. We are part of an underground organization. The elderly and terminally ill seek us out eagerly."

Ben shook his head. "You are tricking them into committing suicide."

"Who is being kriff'n tricked you imbecile Jedi craphat," Rodats barked out. "I have maybe two weeks to live and I can live those last days happy, with my dead wife. I can have a sex life again." The old man grinned and gave Ben a wink.

"How?"

Sjuga motioned to a chair. "Sit, this will only take a moment and I promise I will not harm you. I know you probably have this place surrounded."

Ben hesitated for a moment, but then sat down. Sjuga gave a yellow crooked smile. "Close your eyes and think of something you want more than anything."

Ben rolled his eyes, but then went along with this charade. He closed his eyes and thought about his most private wish.

"You can open your eyes now Ben."

He heard the words, but the voice was not of any of the men in the room. It was a voice that haunted his dreams, a voice that he would never forget. He was hesitant to open his eyes, but eventually he could no longer fight the urge. He blinked at the image before him. Standing next to the chair occupied by Sjuga was Ben's mother, Mara Jade Skywalker. She was the way he remembered her from before her death. Her red hair had streaks of grey at the temples and there were laugh lines at the corner of her eyes. Her bright green eyes stared at him lovingly. "Ben, the men and women who come here are dying. And what they want more than anything before they die is to see their loved ones. To see the people who made their lives happy, before misery and death loomed over them. Yes, Sjuga is a mind-witch, but he takes what little is left of his customer's Force essence and in exchange they get this…a day or maybe a week of the most wonderful dream. It is all within their heads, just as I am a figment of your imagination, but to them it is real. And in that false reality they live a life without pain, without fear, without illness. All they have is bliss until their spirit breaks these worldly bonds."

Tears fell from Ben's eyes and his lower lip trembled with joy. He knew it was an illusion, but he didn't care. "Mom," he sobbed. "I've missed you."

She smiled and Ben could see a tear fall from her eye. "I've missed you too, Ben. You've grown up to be a fine man and Jedi. I love you." The false Mara Jade Skywalker looked over to Sjuga. "But I have to go. This takes energy from you, Ben, and I don't want you hurt."

The image began to fade and Ben reached out to where his mother once stood. "Don't go."

Sjuga stood and put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "She left you a long time ago and your time in this galaxy is not over." He motioned to the two other men in the room. "If you feel the need to arrest us, I doubt we can stop you, but assisted suicide is legal on this planet. The only reason we spirit the patients out of their homes is to avoid questions." He gazed at Ben intently. "What are you going to do Jedi?"

Ben wiped the tears from his face. The encounter with his mother was powerful and he could understand why people dying would want Sjuga's services. "I will have to put in a report of an assisted suicide clinic being run. You may have to get a permit, but since money is not exchanged and therefore no taxes generated, I doubt the government will care. Keep a list of your customers. Sometimes the next of kin will come looking for them."

Sjuga smiled. "Of course."

"Now get the hell out of here you Jedi scumrot so I can get back to my wife!" Mr. Rodats yelled at Ben.

Ben turned and quickly left the apartment. Jedi Koss rushed down the hall to meet him. "You had me worried. I felt shock and surprise through the Force. What happened?"

Ben cleared his throat, sure that it was still choked up from his encounter. "Rodats is in there by his own free will. Tell the police to stand down. I will give them a full report."

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "What _is_ going on?"

Ben turned to the young lady. Seeing his mother reminded him how much friends and family meant to him and that he needed people in his life to stay happy. "Luna, after I turn in my report, would you like to go to dinner with me?"

A genuine smile crossed her face and Ben could feel a flush of excitement from the woman. "I would love to."

He smiled. "I would love to also."


End file.
